Precious Memories
by gosgirl
Summary: Abby helps Gibbs when a precious possession is damaged. Written for the Gibbs / Abby Shipper Forum Hiatus Creative Drive weekly prompt 'Memory.'


**PRECIOUS MEMORIES**

Author: Gosgirl  
>Rating: K+<br>Pairing: Abby/Gibbs  
>Category: Angstromance  
>Spoilers: None<br>Summary: Abby helps Gibbs when a precious possession is damaged. Written for the Gibbs / Abby Shipper Forum Hiatus Creative Drive weekly prompt 'Memory.'  
>Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. <em>NCIS<em> and its characters are the property of DPB and CBS. If I had a silver-haired, blue-eyed Marine to play with, do you think I'd have time for writing?  
>AN: First time Gabby.

* * *

><p>One look at his face told her something was wrong.<p>

Something beyond the bitch of a case they were in the middle of right now. The murder of a Marine's wife that had put them all on edge, Gibbs under significant strain and Abby sinking under a pile of evidence.

So when Gibbs arrived in her lab first thing clutching an evidence bag and a Caf!Pow, looking as if he'd hardly slept, Abby's first reaction was to wrap him in a hug. He returned her embrace almost desperately, arms tightening, giving her a tired smile when he pulled back.

After a verbal romp through the results in so far, Abby eyed the bag in his hand. "Is that more goodies for me, Gibbs?"

"No, it's not evidence..." He paused, sighing, "Need a favour, Abbs."

"Name it, boss-man."

_Did he really need to ask? Didn't he know yet she'd do anything for him?_

"Can you repair this?" He held out the bag and she took it to examine the contents. Gibbs was trying valiantly to keep his poker face in place but the night had been too long... without sleep and with too much bourbon.

"Oh, a tape... very seventies... and eighties as well, I guess. Is this part of your secret rock or hippy past, Gibbs?"

When she saw him flinch, Abby could have bitten her tongue. So not music then but maybe voices...whose voices?

_Oh... c__rap. Why couldn't she keep her big mouth shut?_

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be flippant," she told him, softly. "Let me look and see if it's repairable."

She removed the plastic case carefully, the tangled ends of the tape hanging loose, several ripped sections dropping into the bottom of the bag. "Is this all of it? Did you check the machine for any more bits broken off?" she asked.

"That's all of it," he confirmed, sighing. "Was playin' it last night and it snagged in the machine. Stopped it but it had already snapped."

He remembered the squealing noise the machine had made as the tape jammed. He'd tried to extract every last piece, feeling all fingers and thumbs as he did so. The thought of losing something as precious as this tape felt like a punch to the gut.

"Well, I should be able to splice it back together again, but where the main break is, we might lose a bit of sound. Is it music or speech?" she asked him, tentatively, watching his face closely.

"Starts off with music... and then voices." She saw his hand reach out to the tape, the pain on his face unmistakable.

"And where did it break?" She couldn't help the thought that she was intruding on something very private and felt the need to feel her way carefully.

He glanced at her. "Just after the beginning, at the music."

"Then that's good... I mean, not good but it means I can probably salvage the voices." She didn't want to ask but felt she could make a fair guess as to what... or who... the tape contained.

His next words confirmed it.

"It's Shannon and Kelly," he told her after a pause, his voice thick with emotion. "A tape they sent me just before they...," he swallowed hard before forcing himself to continue, "when I was in Iraq. It's the only recording I've got of their voices... other than what's up here in my memory."

She reached for his hand, squeezing it gently, "I'll do my best, Gibbs."

This time he was the one to initiate the hug, kissing her cheek in a familiar gesture, "I know you will, Abbs. Thanks."

* * *

><p>Later that night, the case was wrapped but paperwork kept the team late. Abby eventually managed to escape the Navy Yard and called by her apartment to pick up her spare CD player, but it was gone midnight by the time she made it to Gibbs' house… not that she expected him to be asleep.<p>

After the case they'd had, she knew exactly where he'd be… down in his sanctuary trying to settle his mind.

He looked up from his boat as she picked her way carefully down the stairs, not able to see her feet too clearly around the bundle in her arms and the bag hanging off her arm. He met her halfway up the stairs, relieving her of her burden.

"Thanks, Gibbs. If there's a space on the bench that doesn't have too much sawdust, that'd be good… although I realize that might be a bit tricky in here coz everything's covered in sawdust... including you."

_Stop babbling, Sciuto. This is not the time to indulge in your Gibbs sawdust fantasies._

Gibbs cleared a space for the CD player on the edge of the workbench. Rummaging in the bag, Abby produced the speakers to go with it, two CDs and the repaired tape in its case. Seeing his eyes fasten on it, she told him before he could ask, "I managed to salvage most of it, Gibbs."

"Thanks, Abbs." The relief was palpable in his voice as he took it from her, running his fingers over the case. "Most?" he queried after a moment.

"Yeah, I couldn't save some of the music at the beginning but everything else is okay…" she trailed off, biting her lip.

"I sense a but." He settled against the workbench, giving her his full attention.

"Yeah, there is, and it explains why I've brought that," she pointed at the CD player and began to pace, pigtails flying as she explained, hands gesturing and half signing as she always did when she was nervous.

"I think the tape is too fragile to risk playing too often, Gibbs. You also need to make sure you don't rewind back beyond the original break coz I think the spliced section would just snarl up again. So if you play it, just be careful."

He nodded, "Okay. I can do that."

"However… I always think a however is better than a but, don't you?" She glanced at him, seeing a more genuine half smile break out as he listened to a familiar ramble. "However... that's why I bought you the CD player and I hope you don't mind but I made two copies of the tape and put it onto CDs."

He saw her worried glance, as if she was afraid he'd be mad.

_How could he be mad when she'd done all this... just for him?_

He snagged her hand as she sped past him and pulled her to a stop as she continued with her explanation, "And I've got a back-up copy on my laptop to burn more if you need them, or if the sawdust in here eventually snarls up the player."

The last few words were said into his sweatshirt as she was pulled into a warm hug.

As his arms tightened around her, she took the opportunity to slide her own arms round his back and bury her face in his neck, his familiar, comforting scent of coffee and sawdust even stronger but overlaid with more than a tang of bourbon tonight.

"Thank you," came the low whisper into her hair.

Suppressing the shiver that his nearness always provoked, she went on, stumbling slightly over her words, "And the copy I've got on my laptop, I've got it password protected so don't worry... not just anyone can access it, y'know."

_Oh, Abbs... _

He had to swallow past the lump in his throat before he could get the words out, he was so touched by her thoughtfulness. "S'okay, don't worry about it."

"And you can have this." She gestured with her head at the CD player.

"Abbs, I couldn't," he protested, drawing back to examine her face. "I can buy one… though you'd better choose one for me."

"Nope, have this one," she shook her head. "I was gonna replace it anyway." She held his gaze levelly, hoping he wouldn't see through the small white lie. She hadn't planned on replacing her bedroom CD player quite yet... but for him she'd buy him the whole damn store if she had to.

He shook his head slightly, smiling as he tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

"Call it an early Christmas present, Gibbs. It's got a radio too… but you really should keep it away from sawdust. If you can get it up high like your TV, that might help."

She was conscious she was babbling but anything to distract herself from the feel of his strong back muscles under her hands, the blue eyes which were too close, and the neck and lips which were well within kissing distance.

"Got it, ma'am." He stepped back, but kept hold of her hand, not sure how to thank her for all she'd done.

"And I only listened to it myself once, pinky promise, Gibbs," she told him, earnestly, "just so I could see where it ended, to know how much I had to record." She knew there were certain things he didn't like to share, that he valued his privacy above everything else.

She didn't want him to be angry at her, thinking that she'd overstepped the boundaries and was just being nosy by listening to the voices of his beloved first wife and daughter. In truth, she'd not been able to listen without tears overwhelming her.

He stopped her flow of words with a finger to her lips, seeing her eyes widen at something she could read from his face. "It's okay, Abbs, don't mind you hearing them."

And he really didn't mind that she had.

He surprised himself by a complete absence of the anger he'd felt when he'd discovered Hollis listening to his tape, however inadvertent that had been.

"C'mere."

He pulled her close again, cupping her face, thumbs stroking her cheeks, eyes roaming over her beautiful face. Her bright green eyes reflected hope and desire right back at him.

And he was so tired of being alone… and lonely.

He was done with keeping this woman at arm's length… of risking her giving up waiting for him to stop being a jackass. Somehow she'd wormed her way into his heart, tunnelling through the wall he'd carefully built around himself until he couldn't imagine his life without her.

Closing the distance between them, he brushed his lips across hers softly and when he pulled back, it was to see a shy, delighted smile break out on her lovely face.

Perhaps it was time to start making some new and equally precious memories?

The end.


End file.
